Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP) was in 5 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. HPP has experienced an increase in enthusiasm from smart money lately. There were 3 hedge funds in our database with HPP positions at the end of the previous quarter.
In today’s marketplace, there are plenty of indicators investors can use to watch publicly traded companies. Two of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite investment managers can outpace the broader indices by a healthy margin (see just how much).
Equally as important, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the financial markets. As the old adage goes: there are a variety of reasons for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very simple reason why they would buy. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if investors understand what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, let’s take a look at the recent action encompassing Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP).
How have hedgies been trading Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP)?
Heading into 2013, a total of 5 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 67% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.
Of the funds we track, Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital had the largest position in Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP), worth close to $257.6 million, comprising 6% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is J. Alan Reid, Jr. of Forward Management, with a $10.1 million position; the fund has 0.7% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedge funds with similar optimism include D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management.
Now, key money managers were breaking ground themselves. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, assembled the most valuable position in Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP). Renaissance Technologies had 0.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management also made a $0.4 million investment in the stock during the quarter.
What do corporate executives and insiders think about Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP)?
Insider buying is at its handiest when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past half-year. Over the last half-year time frame, Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 1 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Hudson Pacific Properties Inc (NYSE:HPP). These stocks are Select Income REIT (NYSE:SIR), Government Properties Income Trust (NYSE:GOV), Parkway Properties Inc (NYSE:PKY), American Assets Trust, Inc (NYSE:AAT), and Franklin Street Properties Corp. (NYSEAMEX:FSP). This group of stocks are the members of the reit – office industry and their market caps resemble HPP’s market cap.
